Author: Ekmekjian Janet

COUNCIL ON AGING – HENRY HAROIAN
Lincoln Journal, MA
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Henry Haroian will speak about his recently published memoirs,
Remembrances, at 10 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 21, immediately following
the Men’s Coffee. He will also be available to autograph copies of
his book. The book can be purchased at the Council on Aging or the
library for $24. Haroian has generously donated the entire proceeds
of the sale of his book to benefit the Friends of the Council on
Aging and the Friends of the Library. The book will be available to
purchase at either location.
Haroian’s memoirs chronicle the experience of his ancestors before
and during the Armenian genocide (1915-1923); their arrival in the
United States and settling in Watertown; World War II experiences;
the family move to Lincoln in 1958 and family and professional life.

FEAR AND UNCERTAINTY REIGN IN KONDOPOGA
By Carl Schreck – Staff Writer
The Moscow Times
Thursday, September 14, 2006. Issue 3497. Page 1.
Margarita Slezova, mother of one of the men killed in the Kondopoga
brawl, motioning toward a recent photograph of her son, Grigory Slezov,
who was 27.
KONDOPOGA, Karelia — In the aftermath of the ethnic explosion here
that left two men dead, destroyed numerous businesses and kiosks,
and forced hundreds to flee, Russians across the country are asking
the same question: Could it happen here?
Aside from its picturesque setting on Lake Onego, Kondopoga — with
its Soviet-era streets names, Lenin statue and World War II memorial —
differs little from thousands of towns struggling to stay afloat.
There’s the paper mill, employing one out of five of Kondopoga’s
roughly 38,000 residents. There are the same crumbling apartment
blocs and storefronts that can be seen everywhere in Russia.
And, like numerous towns in post-communist Russia, there’s the local
outdoor market, which is dominated by dark-skinned natives from the
Caucasus, much to the dismay of ethnic Russians.
The white people in Kondopoga say “hot-blooded” Azeris, Chechens and
others don’t respect local mores and accuse them of flaunting their
wealth and paying off the police so they can sell illegal drugs.
That the recent ethnic riots were sparked by a fight at an Azeri-run
restaurant, Chaika, in which natives of the Caucasus purportedly
killed two ethnic Russians has only reinforced that sentiment.
“The only things Chechens understand is force,” said Sergei, 46, a
retired Army officer whose sons served in the North Caucasus. “Everyone
gets into fights, but here we do it with our fists. They showed up
with weapons and the intent to kill.”
Natives of the Caucasus, many of whom fled north after the outbreak
of the first Chechen war in 1994, counter that the ethnic Russians
are too drunk or not enterprising enough to start their own businesses.
“If we are paying off the police, it certainly didn’t do us much good,”
said Hamzat Magamadov, a Chechen.
“When the pogrom started, we had to hide our children, who were
trembling with fear. The police did nothing.”
Officials from Kondopoga to the republic of Karelia’s capital of
Petrozavodsk to Moscow blame the riots on everything from alcohol to
police ineptitude to mafia turf wars to political opportunists trying
to stoke racial fires for their own ends.
But Kondopoga residents — ethnic Russians and Caucasus natives alike
— say government authorities are unwilling to face an ugly truth:
Ethnic tensions have been brewing here for years, they say, and all
it took for widespread turmoil to break out was the Aug. 29 bar fight.
“This was just the last straw,” said Margarita Slezova, whose son,
Grigory Slezov, 27, was killed in the fight at Chaika, once one of
Kondopoga’s few watering holes. As she spoke, Slezova, dressed in
black, tended to a small shrine for her son in her apartment.
Her son, she said, had stopped by the restaurant and bar for a drink
with friends to celebrate the new apartment he had moved into with
his common-law wife, Kristina, who is due to give birth to their
child in November.
“I can’t say for sure what happened,” Slezova said, “but when things
turned violent, he apparently defended himself.”
Carl Schreck / MT Flowers and broken glass adorning the veranda
outside Chaika restaurant.
Prosecutors and witnesses say a group of ethnic Russians had been
drinking at Chaika and began arguing with the Azeri bartender. The
argument led to a fight, and soon the bartender was getting pummeled
by the group of ethnic Russians. The bartender escaped, returning later
with a group of Chechens bearing knives, baseball bats and iron rods. A
brawl ensued, spilling onto the cement veranda outside. Along with
Slezov, Sergei Usin, 32, lost his life. Several others were injured.
In the days following the brawl, mobs armed with Molotov cocktails
torched Caucasian-owned businesses, including Chaika, and rampaged
through the outdoor marketplace, smashing dozens of kiosks that remain
unrepaired. Most of the Chechens living in Kondopoga fled. Forty-nine
Chechens are at a summer camp outside Petrozavodsk under police
protection. Four Chechen men, meanwhile, have been charged with
murdering Slezov and Usin. A Chechen, a Dagestani and an ethnic
Russian have been charged with hooliganism.
There have been numerous attempts to make sense of the chaos and
violence, and the loss and confusion and uncertainty about what
looms ahead.
State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov recently called the violence a
“criminal showdown” and a “provocation of interethnic violence,”
Interfax reported.
Alexander Belov, head of the ultranationalist Movement Against Illegal
Immigration, or DPNI, turned up in Kondopoga soon after the riots
to address a crowd of 2,000 angry white people. He called for the
expulsion of natives of the Caucasus lacking residence permits.
Everyone blames the police. “The only people the police are protecting
right now are themselves,” said Yury Zakharnyov, a friend of Usin’s
who is a turbine operator at the paper mill. A police officer speaking
at a recent town meeting was shouted down by the 300 residents in
attendance.
What’s clear is the devastation and recrimination, and the lingering
fear that, in a way, nothing has changed.
“Look at those empty stands,” said Artur Galstyan, an Armenian shoe
trader at the Kondopoga market, pointing to a dozen kiosks. “Those
were empty before the pogrom. Nobody was stopping the Russians from
selling anything there. But all they do is drink.”
Galstyan said he wasn’t afraid of being attacked; Armenians, after all,
like Russians, are Christian.
But he conceded that locals had trouble distinguishing between
different peoples. “Azeri, Chechen, Armenian — it’s all the same to
them,” he said.
Like Galstyan, a beefy 37-year-old, not all natives of the Caucasus
have left town. And a modicum of normalcy has returned. Police were
on constant patrol.
But an uneasy current persists. “No to Gooks!” is scrawled on a
kiosk hawking honey; on Proletarskaya Ulitsa, Kondopoga’s main drag,
windows had been smashed in and building facades charred.
An odor redolent of a steaming landfill emanated from Chaika. Broken
glass, stray clothing, a one-legged table and random blocks of wood
and concrete were strewn on the veranda. Passersby don’t seem terribly
fazed by the rubble, but people have laid flowers in front of the
restaurant in memory of Slezov and Usin.
No one appeared to have been lulled into thinking the violence was
over for good, especially if the Chechens who fled the town return. “I
don’t think things will remain calm,” Slezova said.
Alexander Brod, head of the Moscow Bureau of Human Rights, said that
ethnic violence similar to the riots in Kondopoga had broken out in
several Russian regions in recent years and that a Kondopoga-like
scenario could happen anywhere.
“With such a high level of xenophobia,” he said, “such conflicts
could emerge across the country.”
The natives of the Caucasus who once lived in Kondopoga seemed aware
of that much. Satsyta Visayeva, who came to the town 12 years ago with
her husband, said she didn’t know where the family would go after
they left the summer camp, which is outside Petrozavodsk. There is
talk of some of the self-exiled Chechens seeking political asylum in
Finland or elsewhere in Scandinavia.
“Maybe they can come back eventually,” Slezova added, her crisp speech
suddenly breaking into a sob. “But only later. The city needs time
to calm down.”
Staff Writer Anatoly Medetsky contributed to this report from Moscow.

WEST ALWAYS PERCEIVED KHATAMI AS LIBERAL
PanARMENIAN.Net
13.09.2006 17:40 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The West always perceived Khatami as a leader of
the liberal wing of the Iranian society, and first of all students,
Armenian political scientist Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, when commenting on the isseu of a US visa
to former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. In his words, during
Khatami’s Presidency in Iran, especially during the first tenure,
there was thaw in US-Iran relations. “Washington probably remembers
differences between Khatami and ayatollah Khamenei, arisen at the
time. Although Khatami lately made a few harsh statements, addressed
to the US, Washington apparently views him as a potential leader of
a democratic movement. Favor towards him, in the opinion of American
strategists, should signal and stimulate proponents of democratic
changes in the country. It is another attempt to split the Iranian
society,” the political scientist said.

PACE PRESIDENT ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT: WAR IS OUT OF QUESTION!
Yerevan, September 11. ArmInfo. It is inadmissible that members of
one and the same organization who have adopted the principles of
peaceful community and peaceful co-existence be at conflict with one
anothert, in this particular case, over Karabakh, Trend news agency
(Baku) reports PACE President Rene van der linden as saying during
the Dialogue of Culture and Inter-Religious Cooperation conference
in Nizhnyy Novgorov.
Linden expressed sincere hope that with the help of the CE and
other international organizations the Armenian and Azeri presidents
will continue their dialogue for finding peaceful solution to
the conflict. He said that the CE’s goal is to avoid any further
contradictions and to resolve the conflict between the two CE members.
Linden noted that even if it is expedient in terms of defence and is
stipulated by the law, a CE member should in no way start a war. War
is out of question. The CE gives priority to peace, dialogue and
negotiation. A new war by either of the members would be a very serious
problem and PACE would certainly react by considering the expedience
of further membership in the CE.

BOARD OF BENEFICIARIES OF MILLENNIUM CHALLENGES – ARMENIA PROGRAM TO CONVENE ROUTINE SESSION ON WEDNESDAY
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 12 2006
YEREVAN, September 12. /ARKA/. Board of Beneficiaries of Millennium
Challenges – Armenia program is to convene a routine session on
September 13, Levon Barseghyan, a member of the board, said on Tuesday.
On March 27, an agreement was signed in Washington, under which $235.5
million had to be given to Armenia for roads and irrigation systems
restoration as part of Millennium Challenges program.
Millennium Challenges Corporation was established in 2004 as part of
the U.S. State Department’s program focused on economy development
and poverty reduction.

NEW SYSTEM OF ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTAL CIRCULATION IS APPLIED IN YEREVAN MUNICIPALITY
By Ara Martirosian
AZG Armenian Daily
13/09/2006
>From now on the new electronic system of document circulation will be
applied in the Yerevan Municipality. The system is meant to establish
a joint electronic database of the municipal departments and the
city community administration bodies. Grigor Melkoumian, head of the
Municipality’s Staff, informed about this at the press conference. He
said that the specialists began the elaboration of the new electronic
system in 2005. The system began functioning from June 25 this year.
According to Melkoumian, each citizen has the right to enter
the Municipality without any passport or other documents, write
an application and get familiarized to the response of the
application. The Municipality has also installed a Xerox copy
machine in the entrance hall so that the citizens may use it if
needed. The community administrations will also be included in the
joint network. Melkoumian promised that that will happen soon, but
didn’t specify about the details.

EU “TRIO” TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA
ArmRadio.am
11.09.2006 18:11
For the purpose of signing the European New Neighbors Program EU
Trio will arrive in Armenia in the framework of a regional visit,
acting press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vladimir
Karapetyan informs.
The press Secretary reported that the Trio delegation will comprise
representatives of the European Commission, the Council of Europe,
and the Finnish Chairmanship of the European Union. He added that
he possesses no official in formation who will represent the “Trio”
sides. However, according to preliminary information, Chairman of
the Council of Europe Havier Solana, Commissioner on Foreign Policy
Benita Ferero Waldner and the Finnish Foreign Minister are expected
to arrive in Armenia.

IN DPA CHAIRMAN’S WORDS, A GROUP OF KILLERS HAS APPEARED IN ARMENIA
Noyan Tapan
Sept 08 2006
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, NOYAN TAPAN. The series of violence acts
committed in the recent months in Armenia is conditioned by launch of
preelection processes. Chairman of the Democratic Party of Armenia
(DPA) Aram Sargsian expressed such an opinion in his interview
to Noyan Tapan correspondent. In his words, “each time Robert
Kocharian gathers representatives of power structures and gives
them a telling-off, but this does not change the picture.” As the
DPA Chairman affirmed, a group of high-level killers has appeared in
the country, as the committed murders were planned and were done by a
cool calculation. In particular, in Sargsian’s words, the murder of
Cheif of the Investigation Department of State Tax Service attached
to RA government, Shahen Hovasapian, is a crime planned, organized
by a whole group, especially as installation of a radiocontrolled
device in a high-ranking official’s car “is not done for no particular
reason.” Shahen Hovasapian was killed in the morning of September 6.

Armenians of Spain Call upon Parliament to Recognize Armenian Genocide
PanARMENIAN.Net
08.09.2006 17:01 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian community of Spain called upon Spanish
MPs Rosa M. Bonas and Joan Puigcercos to open discussions on the
Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. The deputies appealed with
a corresponding interpellation to the Foreign Relations Committee
and other MPs to recognize the Armenian Genocide as a crime against
humanity. Later Rosa Bonas told Anatoly Turkish news agency, “We’ll
make changes in the proposal by taking out an article pressing Ankara
to recognize the Armenian Genocide.”
At the same time she said that she always has a special attitude to
national minorities nut learned about the Armenian Genocide only
after the appeal of the Armenian community. For his part, Turkish
Ambassador to Spain Volkan Vural stated that if the discussions open
they will damage the Spanish-Turkish relations.

Hoagland’s Chances in Senate 50/50
PanARMENIAN.Net
08.09.2006 13:03 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Richard Hoagland’s nomination has been only approved
by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The final decision will
be taken by the Senate, ARF Bureau’s Hay Dat and Political Office
Director Kiro Manoian told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words,
Hoagland’s chances in the Senate are 50/50.
Even if the Senate approves an Ambassador who denies the Armenian
Genocide it will be not the end of the world. However I suppose that
the Senators will voice opinion and will urge the State Department to
recognize the Armenian Genocide or consider a new designation. It may
happen that the U.S. will remain without an Ambassador to Armenia for
a while, but to my mind, it’s inadmissible for the United States,
since the Bush Administration needs close ties with Armenia,”
Manoian emphasized.